Obama: Arizona law securing borders is "misguided"

[Antitrust32]

Its not about catering to Spanish people. not at all. eventhough thats how white people take it.. and then they go learn French

There are lots of things we can learn from other countries, learning two languages while growing up is one of those things.

[Princess Doreen]

Originally Posted by Antitrust32

Its not about catering to Spanish people. not at all. eventhough thats how white people take it.. and then they go learn French

There are lots of things we can learn from other countries, learning two languages while growing up is one of those things.

Back in the time (the stone age) that I learned French in high school, it was a popular language to learn. There was French, German, Spanish, and Latin, and they were all considered (at that time) valuable languages to learn. I spoke, read, and wrote fluent French when I graduated. I'm lucky I understand a word or two here and there any more.

And, that's the reason why Americans don't speak a second language - they have little need to do so. Languages are something that have to be spoken on a regular basis in order to remember them.

[Antitrust32]

Originally Posted by Princess Doreen

Back in the time (the stone age) that I learned French in high school, it was a popular language to learn. There was French, German, Spanish, and Latin, and they were all considered (at that time) valuable languages to learn. I spoke, read, and wrote fluent French when I graduated. I'm lucky I understand a word or two here and there any more.

And, that's the reason why Americans don't speak a second language - they have little need to do so. Languages are something that have to be spoken on a regular basis in order to remember them.

see that is what I disagree with. At least 60% of my friends (white, black, hispanic or purple) speak spanish. I'm embarrased that I dont. My hispanic friends all speak English perfectly, yet I cant speak their language much at all. I bet if you knew Spanish you would find situations DAILY where that language would come in handy. Thats why I think it is important to know that language above all the others like French, German, Arabic, etc.

I really need to get the Rosetta Stone thing.

[Princess Doreen]

Originally Posted by Antitrust32

see that is what I disagree with. At least 60% of my friends (white, black, hispanic or purple) speak spanish. I'm embarrased that I dont. My hispanic friends all speak English perfectly, yet I cant speak their language much at all. I bet if you knew Spanish you would find situations DAILY where that language would come in handy. Thats why I think it is important to know that language above all the others like French, German, Arabic, etc.

I really need to get the Rosetta Stone thing.

OK - now we;re getting somewhere. 100% of my friends don't speak Spanish - or maybe they do and I just don't know about it.

I would agree with you that if your friends speak Spanish and you feel guilty because you don't, Rosetta Stone would be the way to go.

The difference between us is that I don't feel guilty not knowing how to speak Spanish because I don't have the occasion to use it and I don't see a need (no matter how hard I try) to learn it. On the highways at fast food rest stops, I find pointing to an object or a picture USUALLY gets me what I want when the person waiting on me doesn't understand English. Should I learn Spanish just for that instance? Don't think so, and with my luck - they wouldn't understand Spanish anyway.

[Danzig]

back in the day, people used to know multiple languages. i envy those who are multi-lingual.
i think we don't put a premium on it because we're lazy.

[Princess Doreen]

Originally Posted by Danzig

back in the day, people used to know multiple languages. i envy those who are multi-lingual.
i think we don't put a premium on it because we're lazy.

I, too, remember the day when people spoke another language besides English - mostly from their parents who immigrated to this country. But, their parents spoke English but taught their children their native tongue.

I don't know whether it's so much laziness. I learned a 2nd language in high school. But, like anything else, you use it or you lose it.

At this stage of the game, I don't consider myself lazy not to relearn or learn another language without a really good reason to do so - like using it regularly so I don't lose it.

[Danzig]

Originally Posted by Princess Doreen

I, too, remember the day when people spoke another language besides English - mostly from their parents who immigrated to this country. But, their parents spoke English but taught their children their native tongue.

I don't know whether it's so much laziness. I learned a 2nd language in high school. But, like anything else, you use it or you lose it.

At this stage of the game, I don't consider myself lazy not to relearn or learn another language without a really good reason to do so - like using it regularly so I don't lose it.

no, i'm talking long before we were thought of...hell, back in the middle ages, knowing five or six languages for the educated was nothing to brag about it. now, we're supposedly more advanced, yet many can't even speak english properly, and it's their only language!

[joeydb]

Originally Posted by Danzig

back in the day, people used to know multiple languages. i envy those who are multi-lingual.
i think we don't put a premium on it because we're lazy.

I do know multiple languages, but they are all computer languages...

I think it's unfair to call uni-linguists lazy, especially for those of us who have pursued a technical education. It takes a lot just to keep up, and studying skills not directly related to our work is often not an option.

[Danzig]

Originally Posted by joeydb

I do know multiple languages, but they are all computer languages...

I think it's unfair to call uni-linguists lazy, especially for those of us who have pursued a technical education. It takes a lot just to keep up, and studying skills not directly related to our work is often not an option.

i only know one language, so i was certainly lumping myself in that category-altho i have to say, i'm far from lazy. i think we're plenty motivated about a lot of stuff, but not when it comes to communication with others. we just assume everyone else knows english.

actually, you're ahead of me-i really don't know much about computer languages!